FBI investigating new emails for classified information

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks during a campaign event Sunday at The Quad at Saint Augustine’s University in Raleigh, N.C.
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks during a campaign event Sunday at The Quad at Saint Augustine’s University in Raleigh, N.C.

WASHINGTON — The FBI is investigating whether there is classified information in new emails uncovered during the sexting investigation of disgraced former congressman Anthony Weiner, the estranged husband of one of Hillary Clinton's closest aides.

FBI Director James Comey told Congress in a letter that the emails prompted investigators to take another look at whether classified information had been mishandled, which had been the focus of its recently closed, criminal probe into Clinton's use of a private email server. Comey couldn't guarantee that the latest investigation would be finished before Election Day.

Comey did not provide details about the emails, but a U.S. official told The Associated Press that the emails emerged through the FBI's separate sexting probe of Weiner, who is separated from Clinton confidant Huma Abedin. She served as deputy chief of staff at the State Department and is still a key player in Clinton's presidential campaign.

Federal authorities in New York and North Carolina are investigating online communications between Weiner and a 15-year-old girl. The U.S. official was familiar with the investigation but was not authorized to discuss the matter by name and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The disclosure came less than two weeks before the presidential election. The FBI said in July its investigation of Hillary Clinton's private email server was finished.

John Podesta, the chairman of Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, said Comey should immediately provide more information to voters.

"It is extraordinary that we would see something like this just 11 days out from a presidential election," Podesta said in a statement. "The director owes it to the American people to immediately provide the full details of what he is now examining."

Comey stressed in his letter that the FBI could not yet assess "whether or not this material may be significant," or how long it might take to run down the new investigative leads.

"In connection with an unrelated case, the FBI has learned of the existence of emails that appear to be pertinent to the investigation," Comey wrote. "I agreed that the FBI should take appropriate investigative steps designed to allow investigators to review these emails to determine whether they contain classified information, as well as to assess their importance to our investigation."

It was unclear what the emails contained, who sent them, or what connection they might have to the yearlong investigation the FBI closed in July without recommending criminal charges. The FBI probe focused on whether Clinton sent or received classified information using a server in the basement of her New York home, which was not authorized to handle such messages. Abedin was interviewed by the FBI as part of its investigation.

Comey said in July that his agents didn't find evidence to support a criminal prosecution or direct evidence that Clinton's private server was hacked.

Podesta said he was confident the new information will not produce any conclusions different from the one the FBI reached in July.

State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the department learned about the FBI letter from news reports and did not get any notification from the FBI. Toner pledged the department would "cooperate to the full extent that we can."

White House spokesman Eric Schultz declined comment beyond reiterating President Barack Obama's support for Clinton.

Republicans immediately pounced on the news.

House Speaker Paul Ryan said Clinton has "nobody but herself to blame."

"She was entrusted with some of our nation's most important secrets, and she betrayed that trust by carelessly mishandling highly classified information," Ryan, R-Wis., said in a statement. "This decision, long overdue, is the result of her reckless use of a private email server, and her refusal to be forthcoming with federal investigators. I renew my call for the Director of National Intelligence to suspend all classified briefings for Secretary Clinton until this matter is fully resolved."

Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said the FBI's decision reinforces the committee's view that the more that is learned about the server, "the clearer it becomes that she and her associates committed wrongdoing and jeopardized national security."

Speaking to cheering supporters at a rally in New Hampshire, Republican nominee Donald Trump used Comey's new letter to attack Clinton.

"We must not let her take her criminal scheme into the Oval Office," said Trump, who has pledged to "lock up" his political rival if elected. "Perhaps finally justice will be done."

Read Saturday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.

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